You start getting a reputation for interesting and unique arrangements. Birds are chirping. The sun is shining. You were made to own this business.
You may be sending out get-well bouquets or anniversary roses but let’s face it, your event florals pay the bills. Weddings, corporate meetings, high-end bat mitzvahs… that’s where you’re making money and, frankly, getting the most satisfaction.
As your business begins to grow, however, you realize two things. The first is that you’ve begun to acquire a lot of inventory. Vases, arches, specialty decor. You just bought 250 new glass votive candleholders for one wedding and realize you now have over 2,000 in your back room. The items are accumulating and sometimes you don’t even remember what you have.
Your second realization is that you need to reuse the inventory you already have if you’re ever going be profitable. While you enjoy reinventing the creative wheel with each of your clients, you don’t want to have to buy a (or 50) new vessel for every single event. You want to use things you already have in new innovative ways rather than always heading to the store or starting from scratch with every event. Renting your existing inventory to future clients is the best way for you to control your costs and keep your profit margins profitable.
Now, imagine this scenario happening to all sorts of event businesses; caterers, lighting companies, prop & decor suppliers. Keeping track of what you have, utilizing that inventory for future events, and making sure you don’t double-book anything in the process is essential for all kinds of event professionals, even if rentals aren’t your primary business.
Whether you “rent” your inventory to your client for free as part of their package or actually charge them for the pieces they are using, having an inventory system in place is key. Especially as your business grows to executing multiple events simultaneously, you need to know what is going where when and how much you need to fill all your orders.
If you are facing these issues in your event business, consider using R.W. Elephant to help you organize your inventory and orders. This friendly, easy-to-use inventory software might just be the simple solution that can turn the chaos of your business’ growth into repeatable success.
